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In the case of the $140 million runway under construction at Port Columbus, about 400,000 cubic
yards of recycled materials were used just for fill.

That’s enough to fill Huntington Park to the brim.

And then, atop all the fill, 400,000 tons of asphalt were laid down, airport officials say.

The 10,113-foot-long runway is the biggest and most-expensive construction project in Port
Columbus history. It is scheduled to open on Aug. 22, Columbus Regional Airport Authority officials
say.

“All the asphalt is down. We still need to do the grooving and striping,” said David Whitaker,
vice president of business development for the airport authority, which oversees Port Columbus.

“Then the (Federal Aviation Administration) has some work to do, related to their navigational
equipment.”

The runway is 150 feet wide and about 700 feet south of the current south runway, which will be
used as a taxiway once the new runway is ready. The north runway will remain in operation.

About 650,000 cubic yards of soil were moved during construction. That’s enough to fill Crew
Stadium.

About 127 miles of electrical cable were installed as part of the construction project, and
enough grass seed was planted around the runway to reseed Ohio Stadium more than 200 times,
according to the estimates of airport officials.

Work also has begun on the $80 million renovation of the airport ticket lobby, baggage-claim
area and concourses.

“That’s a lot of capital-improvement work, and it positions us for the next 20 to 30 years,”
Whitaker said, adding that, if needed, space has been set aside near the new runway for an
additional terminal.

New Albany projects

Two New Albany projects are scheduled to start construction in the spring: the
52,000-square-foot Healthy New Albany wellness center and a 26,000-square-foot office building.

The $12.5 million Healthy New Albany is a partnership of the city, Ohio State University’s
Wexner Medical Center and Integrated Wellness Partners.

The new office building will cost about $6 million, and will include a restaurant and retail
tenants on the first floor.

“We believe this new office building is a direct result of the wellness center,” said Scott
McAfee, spokesman for the city of New Albany. “It’s generating a lot of excitement.”

The office building is being built by the New Albany Co. and Daimler Group.

The overall goal, McAfee said, is to make the village center more vibrant.

“There’s already a lot going on in the market square, and these projects will bring even more,”
he said. “It will become more of a destination and generate more retail and services.”

New Albany also plans to build the Charleen and Charles Hinson Amphitheater in the village
center.

The project, which recently received a $500,000 donation from the Hinson family, will be used
for concerts by the New Albany Symphony Orchestra, Community Band and Chorus.

Office space

The ups and downs of the Downtown market can be traced in Bill Schottenstein’s plans for
properties at the southwest corner of Capitol Square.

As recently reported, an affiliate of Schottenstein’s Arshot Investment Corp. has purchased the
building at 101 S. High St. for $465,000, and a Heartland Bank branch will occupy the first
floor.

Scottenstein’s company owns the two office buildings next door, 107 and 109 S. High St. All
three are older, low-rise buildings on the small side.

“We originally bought them in the mid-1990s to prevent someone else from building a competing
high-rise office across the street from the Fifth Third building,” Schottenstein said.At the time,
his company owned the 23-story Fifth Third building, which is now owned by Dallas-based Behringer
Harvard, a real-estate investment group, and is managed by Lion Real Estate Services, another
Arshot affiliate.

By the late 1990s, “The vacancy rates Downtown (for office space) were so low, down to 2
percent, and we thought about building a 22-story office building,” Schottenstein said of 107 and
109 S. High St.

Then the market turned, vacancy rates skyrocketed, and plans for the new office building were
shelved.

And now, finally, vacancy rates are dropping once again.

“The market for office space is much better than it was three or four years ago, but we’re still
feeling the fallout from the recession,” Schottenstein said.

Is it time to resurrect the plan for the 22-story office building along S. High Street?